The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (Tom Wolfe)

Las Vegas... demolition derby... self-promoting DJs... Jersey teeny-boppers... Phil Spector... custom cars... Cassius Clay... NASCAR country... Cary Grant... seedy gossip tabloids... the IT girl... urban archetypes... public trendsetters... conservative aesthetic crusaders... the Art Scene... men's fashion... nanny culture... the generation gap... Sunday leisure... rich divorcées...women's prison... doormen... status in the city.

America rocks.*

What I got out of this book is utter delight in and celebration of the strands of American culture.  I could also see Tom Wolfe dipping his toe into the stream-of-consciousness style.  Most importantly, he treats all of his subjects with glowing, genuine respect.  Only when he's writing about the ultra-rich does a wink sneak in to acknowledge the utter ridiculousness of their behavior.  (As opposed to his portrayal of the hippies in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, in which he never stopped winking.)

*(Except for Phil Spector.  On the other hand, anyone who could write this:



can't be all bad.)